Timeline period - 1850

1854 - Concerning Colours and Skirmishers...

On February 23rd 1854 the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment set sail from Liverpool on the troopship "Niagara", bound for Gallipoli to support Turkey in her resistance to Russian designs upon Constantinople and the Mediterranean. On March 28th War was declared upon Russia, and the allied expeditionary forces were not to become engaged with their Russian opponents until the invasion of the Crimea in September.

Ensign James Williams of the 28th wrote to his cousin Sophy before the Regiment left England:

"A line in adieu before leaving old England to fight the Roosians. I send you a piece of Music which I hope you will approve of and play it in remembrance of our past acquaintance. We leave Liverpool on Wednesday by Niagara steamer. All who are going are in the highest spirits and you cannot think how miserable the poor fellows look who are to be left behind at the Depot. The Depot is to be at the Isle of Wight, and I can recommend to your notice, should you happen to meet him out, Lieutenant Turner, a capital dancer, and generally liked as a partner for a waltz. I went to say "goodbye" to them at Hampstead last Tuesday. The place looked sad, at least it did to me - I only hope I may live to see it again. If any confounded Russian does hit me, God grant it may not be in the back - I shall have to carry the Colours and of course shall be the first to be picked off. Never mind, we shall live to meet again.

"Remember me in farewell to "Toby Brown" and Meux who ought to join us as a volunteer.

"With best love, Your affectionate Cousin, (signed) James Williams.

"I left a box of cigars for Meux at Hampstead. Send me a line to Malta, as we stop there some little time. God bless you, J.W."

The battle of the Alma was fought on 20th September 1854, and the 28th were present but not engaged. They were in reserve with Third Division, and when the opportunity for pursuit of the defeated Russians was missed, Third Division was not committed. The battle of the Alma was the last occasion in which the Colours of the 28th were carried in battle and as an ensign of the 28th, James Williams was one of the two last men to have that honour.

On 13th October siege operations were begun against the Russian naval base of Sebastopol, and the 28th took up their positions in the trenches. The Russians undertook two offensive operations to relieve the besieged city but in both resultant battles, Balaklava and Inkerman, the Allies prevailed. Except for a hundred men led by Lieutenant-Colonel Adams at Inkerman, the 28th took no part in either battle, remaining in the lines before Sebastopol.

On 16th October Captain Thomas Maunsell of the 28th volunteered to lead the sharpshooters of Third Division, composed of ten crack shots, also volunteers, from each regiment in the Division. Their instructions from headquarters were as follows:

"General officers and officers commanding regiments will be pleased to explain to the sharpshooters the duty for which they are selected. It is in this case to approach within four or five hundred yards of the enemy's works, and there to establish themselves in an extended order (by single men) under cover of anything which may present itself to afford them protection. They will endeavour to improve their cover behind any natural obstacle by scraping for themselves a hollow out of the ground; and they will carry with them provisions, so that they will be enabled to remain, being under cover, for many hours together, even twenty-four hours, without relief. While so established they will endeavour to pick off the enemy's artillerymen in the embrasures. The approach of the sharpshooters to the spots they will occupy will be rapid and in scattered order, each man acting for himself and exercising his intelligence to the utmost extent of his ability. Each man will select a spot which suits him best, and be guided only by that choice of cover he may find which shall give him an effective fire into the embrasure."

Maunsell described the progress that he and his men made during the siege:

"Thus the long and weary winter dragged along. As the trenches drew nearer Sebastopol the sharpshooters got closer to the enemy. There were also the Russian sharpshooters to contend with, and we had many exciting affairs with them, and some personal encounters. Our casualties, as I have said, were heavy, but every evening the gaps were filled up by fresh volunteers, so that the party always went out in full strength. For seventy-six days I led my men, by which time I was one of the very few left unhit of those who had first joined; but on the seventy-sixth day, Decmber 31, while on duty I was severely wounded in the left arm by a rifle bullet, which broke the bone. I was carried by four of my men on a stretcher, right across the open where we were, up to the camp, and it shows the humanity of the Russians to the wounded that they never attempted to fire at us, though they could easily have shot us all."

By the 3rd January 1855 the Allied trenches were so close to the Russian positions that sharpshooters were no longer required. Maunsell was sent to the hospital at Scutari, and nursed back to health under the supervision of Florence Nightingale. He later rose to the rank of Major-General.

Picture: The Presentation of new Colours to the 28th Regiment at Portsmouth, 1850. The last Colours to be carried into battle by the Regiment. Original in the Soldiers of Gloucesterhire Museum collection.

1855 - Trench Warfare

The siege of Sebastopol dragged on until 9th September 1855 when it fell to the Allies, effectively bringing about an end to the fighting. Peace was not signed until 31st March 1856. The Russian fleet had been scuttled in the harbour, and the progress of the siege was marked by its miserable conditions, the armies rife with disease, and acts of gallantry and heroism displayed by both sides. The 28th had gone to the Crimea around 800 strong, all ranks. Only 140 were killed and wounded in the fighting, but 395 died of disease, together with many others whose lives were permanently blighted. On the 8th February Ensign Williams reported to his cousin Sophy that only 50 men remained of the 28th who had set sail from Liverpool. There were over 300 men still with the Colours, but 250 of these were new recruits sent out from England.

The French army, which were far better cared for than was the British, assumed the role of the senior partner and the decimated British were reduced to a supporting role. Nevertheless, with Spring, conditions began to improve and the health of the British soldiers started to recover, and the army grew in strength. The first major assault on Sebastopol was launched on 18th June, the 40th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. It was not a propitious date for Anglo-French co-operation, and the attack was badly bungled. The 28th was not as heavily engaged as some, but still suffered some 67 casualties.

Cousin Sophy heard from Ensign Williams:

"The papers will have told you of the failure that the English and French met with on the 18th June in trying to wipe out the recollections of Waterloo. The whole affair was so badly arranged that without any credit to the Russians and with no disgrace to ourselves we got a splendid licking. Nothing more can ensure failure than a divided command. The Generals arranged one plan for attack and at a late hour all was changed and awful confusion was the inevitable consequence. For instance, Eyre was told that 10,000 French would support his Brigade: he rode to the French General late at night to arrange matters, when he learnt that the French General knew of nothing concerning the attack and that he and his troops were on the Tchernaia. Well, for our Brigade, the only one that did anything: we advanced in rapid time, took some houses, held them all day, and retired at evening with the loss of 31 officers and 650 men killed and wounded - Voila tout. The men behaved splendidly. I don't think we killed 50 Russians in all. For whilst we were exposed they were hid behind parapets. Some Russians tried to turn us out of the houses we took, they were led down the trench to within about 30 yards of us by an Officer, who amused himself by striking his men with the back of his sword, pulling their hair etc. etc. until a shot knocked him over and his men turned and cut. The houses were very nicely furnished, Books, Pianos, Damask Chairs etc. The men made themselves quite at home lounging on Sofa and Chairs, eating the Ration Pork off the Russian Books in lieu of plates. The day before we all went into action all the Minies were changed for the Enfield Rifle, a highly finished Rifle with a small bore and light bullets. Curiously enough on that day the Russians took to firing very large bullets at us for the first time. They seem to have discovered the value of a heavy ball at the time that we with our new light-fangled inventions have discarded them. We have got five wounded officers, one wounded in the right leg is staying in our hut and quite jolly at the idea of getting home. Several times during the day I longed to get a nice little calf wound, and so get done with the Crimea.

"Wounds are at a premium, provided that they are not too serious. The 28th is now the strongest Regiment in the Brigade, and as we are very short of Officers, the trench duty is very heavy.

"The French say that we were the cause of the failure, the English say the French. All here expect, and most would like to hear of Lord Raglan's recall. Poor Sir J. Campbell was killed leading on our grand storming party of 400 men who of course were snuffed out as soon as they shewed outside the parapet. Strange to say I think the Army is not disheartened, the whole thing was such a bungling, disgracefully childish failure, that it is rather laughed at as a joke. That ruffian Astley has not yet sent my clothes and I am obliged to borrow a jacket to go out in. Now Good bye."

The second major assault against Sebastopol was launched on 8th September 1855. The French were successful in achieving their objectives but the British were driven back. Third Division, including the 28th, had remained in reserve, but the 28th had been selected for the storming party due to go in the following day. In the event, this was not required, for overnight, the Russians evacuated the city and abandoned it to the allies.

The 28th Regiment left the Crimea on 24th May 1856, bound for Malta.


Picture: Russian helmet plate taken at Sebastopol by a soldier of the 28th Regiment. In the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum Collection.

1855 - The Funeral of Lord Raglan

Ten days after the failure of the first major Allied assault on Sebastopol, Field Marshal Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the Crimea, died on 28th June 1855. As a young man he had served in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo, as the Duke of Wellington's Military Secretary, he had been wounded in the right arm which had had to be amputated. But these early achievements were to be overshadowed by his failures in later life in the Crimea. With his own health being undermined as his army fell apart through mismanagement and bungling, much of it due to his own feeble efforts, he died a broken man.

In 1834 the various troops of the Gloucestershire Yeomanry were combined to form a single regiment, under the command of Henry Somerset, Marquis of Worcester, heir to the Duke of Beaufort, and nephew of Lord Raglan. In 1847 the Regiment adopted its famous blue hussar uniform and became the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, with Henry Somerset, having succeeded his father in 1835 as 7th Duke of Beaufort, still its Colonel. The Duke took a keen interest in military sartorial elegance and insisted that his men wore the pelisse Hungarian style, i.e., slung over the back, rather than slung over the left shoulder as other British hussar regiments wore them. It was a fad that was not to last.

The 7th Duke of Beaufort died in 1853, and was succeeded by his son, Henry Charles Fitzroy Somerset, who, in his turn, was also appointed Colonel of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars in early 1854.

On 24th July 1855 the steamer "Caradoc" arrived at Bristol carrying the coffin of Lord Raglan. Mary Seacole, who would achieve everlasting fame as a nurse in the Crimea, had seen the funeral cortege leave Sebastopol. She recalled in her autobiography, "Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands":

"... once again they let me into the room in which the coffin lay, and I timidly stretched out my hand and touched a corner of the union-jack which lay upon it; and then I watched it wind its way through the long lines of soldiery towards the Kamiesch, while, ever and anon, the guns thundered forth in sorrow, not in anger. And for days after I could not help thinking of the "Caradoc," which was ploughing its way through the sunny sea with its sad burden."

The Duke of Beaufort instructed that his great-uncle was to be buried in the family vault at Badminton House, and men of the Duke's Regiment, the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, were to lead the procession from Bristol to Badminton:

"On the morning of the 25th the coffin was transferred from the "Caradoc" to a small steamboat, on which a platform, covered with black velvet surmounted by a canopy of the same material, had been erected for its reception. On the coffin were placed the coronet, sword and hat of the deceased, while his lordship's aide-de-camp and a number of artillerymen were ranged on each side. Upon the vessel entering the harbour forty-two boats, chiefly contributed by the merchant vessels in the port, each bearing a mourning flag and with crews appropriately attired, were divided into two lines and formed a guard on both sides of the steamer. In this order, the procession made its way to the quay-head. Here were assembled the Mayor (Mr. J.G. Shaw), the Sheriff, and many members of the Corporation, together with great numbers of the leading citizens and the children of the public schools. The coffin having been placed in a hearse amidst the firing of minute-guns by a battery of artillery and the tolling of the city bells, a procession was formed headed by a detachment of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, with the band of the 15th Hussars, and attended by a guard of honour taken from the Royal Horse Guards Blue, of which regiment the late Field-Marshal was colonel. Fishponds having been reached, the hearse and carriage moved from thence on to Badminton house, where the body was deposited in the great hall and attended by a guard of the Yeomanry. On the following morning the public were admitted to a kind of 'lying in state', the interment taking place in the afternoon with the usual service for the dead."

W.H. Wyndham Quin, "The Yeomanry Cavalry of Gloucestershire and Monmouth", 1898.

Picture: Badminton House in the 19th Century.

1857 - The Siege of Delhi

The 61st South Gloucestershire Regiment had been soldiering in India since 1845 and was stationed at Ferozepore when the Indian Mutiny erupted in May 1857. With Her Majesty's 61st Regiment in Ferozepore were the 45th and 57th Native Infantry Regiments, the 10th Native Light Cavalry, and a European Light Field Artillery Battery. The two Native Infantry Regiments mutinied, and having failed to capture the magazine, which was defended and later blown up by the 61st, the 45th and half the 57th dispersed or marched away. One contingent of the 57th remained loyal but some of the captured mutineers were punished, two being hanged and twelve blown from the artillery's guns.

The key to British power in India was Delhi, which had been seized by the mutineers, and many European men, women and children living in the city were butchered to death. On 13th June over 400 men of the 61st led by Lieutenant-Colonel W.T. Jones left Ferozepore and marched for two weeks under a blazing sun the 250 miles to Delhi to join the growing army of British and loyal Indian troops surrounding the city's walls. The mutineers made sortie after sortie against the besieging forces, one of the most serious being an attempt to capture or destroy the siege train which was coming up from Ferozepore. The 61st took part in the action, which was led by the ferocious John Nicholson, in saving the siege train at Najafgarh, and soon its heavy guns were in position and pounding the walls of Delhi.

By 13th September two practicable breaches had been made in Delhi's walls and the storm of the city began at dawn the following day; the fighting for the city continued for six days. The 61st were under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Deacon, Colonel Jones now leading one of the assault columns.

Deacon wrote in his report after the storm:

"... Not a word was spoken, or a trigger pulled, until the stormers and the support had reached the summit of the breach and the magazine yard, when a cheer and a charge were given and made, on which the Enemy, taken most completely by surprise, fled precipitately, throwing down their port-fires at their guns. Several of them were bayonetted close to the breach, the others were closely pursued by H.M.'s 61st and the 4th Punjaub infantry.

"... On reaching the summit of the breach, two heavy iron guns (apparently 32-pounders) were found pointed at it loaded, one of which was temporarily spiked by Assistant Surgeon H.T. Reade and Color Sergeant Mitchell, both of Her Majesty's 61st regiment. ... "

Delhi finally fell to the British on 19th September, a smouldering ruin as the victorious soldiers took their revenge and their officers dealt out summary justice.

Assistant Surgeon Reade was the recipient of the first Victoria Cross awarded to either the 61st or the 28th Regiments and his citation reads as follows:

"During the siege of Delhi, on September 14th, 1857, while Surgeon Reade was attending to the wounded at the end of one of the streets of the city, a party of rebels from the direction of the Bank, having established themselves in the houses of the street, commenced firing from the roofs. The wounded were thus in very great danger, and would have fallen into the hands of the enemy, had not Surgeon Reade drawn his sword, and calling upon the few soldiers who were near to follow, succeeded under a very heavy fire, in dislodging the rebels from their position. Surgeon Reade's party consisted of about ten men in all, of whom two were killed and five or six wounded."

Reade later rose to become Surgeon General of the army in 1886.

At Delhi the 61st had taken to dyeing their uniforms "karky" and thereby set the fashion that the rest of the army was to follow. Sergeant-Major H.G. Baker described the appearance of the 61st at the siege of Delhi:

"The 61st Regiment wore all kinds of clothing at the capture of the Magazine on the 16th September; principally the twill cotton shell jackets and trousers dyed a very ugly khaki - dyed in the Camp before Delhi: - some were in old blue cotton trousers, in fact we were a rough looking lot dressed any how, just as the men fell into the ranks. I myself fractured the seat of my trousers in getting up the breach at Delhi, and it would not have looked very nice if I had had my photograph taken then. The men wore the old round forage caps with white covers, which were very dirty, the leather peak covered with a curtain to protect the neck. The officers and men wore beards. No water bottles were in use; ..."

Following the capture of Lucknow in 1858, the mutiny fizzled out with the remaining rebels being hunted down over the next several months. The power of the East India Company was destroyed and British rule in India would never be the same again.

The 61st returned to England in 1860, after an absence of seventeen years.



Picture: The medals of Colonel W.T. Jones, in the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum collection.

1859 - "Form! form! Riflemen form!"

During the French Revolutionary & Napoleonic Wars a thriving Volunteer movement had grown up, whereby tens of thousands of men were equipped and trained as part-time soldiers, ready to defend the United Kingdom from French invasion. As the invasion threat subsided during the course of the wars, the Volunteer companies were disbanded or converted to Local Militia, which in their turn faded away when Napoleon had been defeated.

In the late 1850's a new French threat was perceived and one Captain John Evat Acklom, late of Her Majesty's 28th North Gloucestershire Regiment, has a good claim to being the originator of a new Volunteer movement, one which has continued to exist, through many changes, up to the present day.

In December 1858 Acklom wrote a letter to The Times, entitled "Ready! or England for ever safe from the Invaders" and bombarded Parliament, the War Office and numerous people of influence with his proposals concerning the formation of a Volunteer Rifle Corps. Popularised by Prince Albert and the Poet Laureate, Volunteer fever swept the country.

"THERE is a sound of thunder afar,
Storm in the south that darkens the day,
Storm of battle and thunder of war,
Well, if it do not roll our way.
Form! form! Riflemen form!
Ready, be ready to meet the storm!
Riflemen, riflemen, riflemen form!"

Alfred Lord Tennyson, "The War" 1859.

The County of Gloucestershire was not slow in responding to the call and independent Volunteer Rifle Companies sprang up everywhere. The links with the county regiments were swiftly established and, in response to an enquiry from the Colonel of the 28th, then in Bombay, the War Office informed him in a letter of 12th July 1859 that a force of Bristol Rifle Volunteers was to be formed, not less than 500 strong.

The Volunteers were equipped and dressed as riflemen, at first in grey with green facings, and then, for the Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers, in green with scarlet facings. The Gloucester Docks Rifle Volunteers, founded in July 1859, saw themselves as a club, as their manifesto states:-

"This Club is formed on Patriotic principles for the purpose of acquiring skill in the use of the Rifle, which, we consider, should be National and habitual, that we may be prepared in the event of an Invasion to defend our Country, and on such an occasion, we pledge ourselves to immediately enrol under the Government for this purpose, and to obey the Commands of the Authorities, taking an oath of allegiance to the Queen if required."

The Rifle Volunteer Companies of Gloucestershire - men from Bristol and its environs, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stroud, Tewkesbury, the Forest of Dean, Dursley, Stow-on-the-Wold, Moreton-in-the-Marsh - were later organized into two battalions, the 1st Gloucestershire (City of Bristol) Rifle Volunteers and the 2nd Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers. The time was yet to come when, first as men from Volunteer Battalions, then as Territorial battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment, the part-time Volunteers of the county would provide sterling service abroad for their country in the Second Boer War and the two World Wars of the twentieth century.

Picture: Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteer, c. 1860.

1866 - From Ireland to Canada with the 61st

The British Army had long recruited heavily in Ireland and the two Gloucestershire Regiments, the 28th and the 61st, were no exceptions, but the numbers of Irish recruits had been steadily falling from the 1840s until the outbreak of the Great War. In 1865 the 61st Regiment were posted once again to Ireland, and in July the regiment was engaged in election duty in the Dublin Division. The Independent Irish Party, which had formerly held the balance of power in the House of Commons, had dissolved itself, and most of its former supporters switched their allegiance to the Liberals, who went on to defeat the Conservatives in the 1865 election.

In the same year many of the leaders of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, also known as Fenians, and successors to the United Irishmen of the previous century and forerunners of later Nationalists, were rounded up and arrested. James Stephens, founder of the Fenian movement appointed John Devoy as Chief Organiser of Fenians in the British Army.

In February 1866 a Fenian Council of War called for an immediate uprising, but this was vetoed by Stephens, to Devoy's disgust. Devoy had calculated that of the 26,000 British soldiers in Ireland, not less than 60% were Irish and that around 8,000 of them were Fenians - that is, they had foresworn their allegiance to the Crown. According to Devoy, the Regiment most likely to lead the others in an uprising was the 61st. Over sixty years later, he recalled in his memoir:-

"... one of the most intelligent and best educated of the Fenian soldiers was Corporal Thomas Chambers who was Centre [a secret Fenian agent] of the 61st. It was supposed to be an English Regiment but there were not a hundred men in it who were not Irish, and there were 600 Fenians. It was the banner Fenian Regiment."

Whatever the facts about the political allegiances of the soldiers of the 61st, they did not mutiny, although some, including Chambers, were indeed arrested, tried and sentenced to long prison terms.

Lawrence James notes in "Mutiny in the British and Commonwealth Forces, 1797-1956" [1987]:

"An oath sworn over a pot of ale did not make a soldier into a potential mutineer. Moreover the lack of any organisation within the barracks, and the likelihood that battalions would be moved to other postings, made it impossible for the Fenians to put down deep roots in the Army. It was less than clear just how the Fenians intended to employ their alleged converts in the Army, for at the time they were canvassing soldiers there was no exact timetable for an Irish revolution. As it was, the isolated insurrections during the winter of 1866-7 were fiascos, and when Army detachments were used to assist the police, all proved completely loyal. Fenian ineptitude and the exemplary punishments handed out to soldiers who had dabbled with Fenianism saw to that."

The 61st left Ireland in September 1866, briefly stopping over in Newfoundland and Quebec before leaving for Bermuda on 13th October. They were posted again to Canada in 1870, arriving at Halifax, Nova Scotia on Christmas Eve, remaining there until 1872. For one officer of the 61st, Ensign Allan Gilmore, the time spent in North America was a period of great artistic expression. And, in 1871, John Devoy was released from prison, and exiled to the United States.

Fenianism had spread across the Atlantic, although the Fenian Raids that were made from American soil against Canada between 1866 and 1870 were well away from the stations of the 61st. One unintended result of these ultimately unsuccessful raids was to help instill a sense of nationhood in the peoples of Canada, who were to affirm their loyalty to the Empire, and develop their own separate identity.


Picture: View of Dartmouth from Wellington Barracks, Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 22nd 1872. Painted by Ensign Alan Gilmore, 61st Regiment. Original in Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum Collection.

1876 - Pax Britannica - The 28th in Hong Kong

On 19th December 1875 the 28th North Gloucestershire Regiment, 973 strong, left Malta aboard the troopship HIMALAYA, bound for Hong Kong. Their leaving was much regretted as a farewell address published in The Malta Times shows:-

"The painful task of saying farewell to this gallant Corps, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel C.A.S. Dickins, is rendered doubly difficult by the fact that all its ranks are very highly esteemed by all those with whom they have here been brought into contact. We think we are quite correct in saying that during their stay here perfect good will has existed between them and the inhabitants all of whom, we doubt not, will now join us in wishing them every success and prosperity. The high state of discipline and order of this Regiment will be, no doubt, fully acknowledged by His Excellency, the General Commanding, and the British Army should, in our opinion, be proud of possessing a Regiment whose officers have proved to be so gentlemanly, upright, and soldierlike, and whose non-commissioned officers and rank and file are so renowned for their steady conduct."

The HIMALAYA arrived in Hong Kong on 31st January 1876, and for the next two years the officers and men of the 28th enjoyed another very pleasant posting. The delights of Chinese cuisine were particularly attractive, and sporting contests of shooting, athletics and cricket were enthusiastically supported. The co-operation between the British and the Chinese populations came to produce one of the world's great entrepots. One officer of the 28th wrote:-

"The city hall, the pier, the graceful Queen's Road, beginning with comfortable bungalow, substantial banks and shops, and ending westward in the picturesque habitations of the natives, the public gardens worthy of the Flower Empire, the shipping in the harbour, the busy warehouses on shore, the snug bungalows nesting in shrubs and trees and fast creeping up the slope behind the town, all testified to the fertilising influence of European enterprise.

"... Canton and Shanghai supplied out markets. The Chinese cooks would have satisfied Elagabalus. The "Happy Valley" enclosed our race-course. The cricket ground was close to our barracks. Our lives indeed seemed cast in pleasant places. I, for one, find my thoughts willingly recross the bridge of eight years' absence, and linger fondly among the scenes and memories of our Hongkong life."

Nevertheless, there was also some ambivalence about the delights of Hong Kong, especially to the military mind. As the curiosities swiftly palled, regimental sports seemed ever more appealing. Our anonymous officer continued:-

"The Chinese ladies with their deformed feet; the cook-shops, wherein a savoury mess, including puppy-dog and rat, was retailed for a penny; the fairy-like appearance of the native streets after dark, with the gaudily painted lanterns swinging from every door; the barbers plying their functions on the pavement; the chairs, whose fat occupants always seemed in inverse ratio to the bearers, gliding down the road; the stalwart Sikh policeman with baton of office; the dread emblem of civil authority, and of terror to evil-doers of native birth, the whipping-post, set up like a guillotine in a conspicuous part of the market-place. The shore boats, worked by female hands, each oarswoman, if a mother, having her young offspring strapped in a satchel behind her back. The huge junks, in shape like William the Norman's men-of-war, as depicted in the Bayeux tapestry, on his way to the conquest of England, with families of several generations resident on the elevated poop; all these and a hundred other sights, strange to our eyes, were to be seen every day, but failed to impress the military mind so as to make this foreign service attractive to most men; to counter-balance, in fact, the seven months tedium during which Hongkong is not a desirable place of residence. Besides, it has an evil reputation, begotten of early days of mismanagement and official contempt of all sanitary measures. The crowded cemeteries, with tomb-stones that record the death-roll of hundreds in one inscription, attest it. These gloomy witnesses of former great mortality cannot be shaken in their evidence."

After two years in Hong Kong, the 28th left for Singapore on 4th January 1878.


Picture: HMT HIMALAYA

1881 - The Gloucestershire Regiment

The Regularization of the Forces Act of 1871 had brought about the reorganization of recruiting and administration on a largely county basis for the British army. The act was part of a series of reforms instigated by the Secretary of War, Edward Cardwell, which included the abolition of purchase for commissions, and improved conditions of service for the ordinary soldier. For the county of Gloucestershire this meant that the two Regular regiments, the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment and the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment, the county Militia battalions, and the Volunteer companies were all linked together.

In 1881, the most profound reform yet, implemented by Cardwell's successor, Hugh Childers, created many new infantry regiments by the simple process of merging two single battalion regiments into one two battalion regiment, and adding the militia and volunteer battalions to the new regiment's establishment. Thus the 28th and the 61st became the 1st and 2nd Battalions, The Gloucestershire Regiment. The Royal South Gloucestershire Militia became the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, and the Royal North Gloucestershire Militia became the 4th (Militia) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment; the 1st (City of Bristol) Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers became 1st (City of Bristol) Volunteer Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment and the 2nd Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers became 2nd Volunteer Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment.

For many old soldiers, the changes in regimental dress were as unwelcome as the changes in regimental organization. The general appearance of the late 19th century home service uniform had already been introduced several years earlier, of which the Prussian-influenced spiked helmet was the most radical new feature. But the 1881 reform brought further unwelcome changes. Attempts were made to standardize uniforms and abolish many of the unique distinctions from which the individual regiments derived so much pride. Facing colours to the scarlet jackets were now to be rationalized, with white for English and Welsh regiments, yellow for Scottish regiments, and green for Irish regiments (although all "Royal" regiments were to retain their blue facings). Thus the 28th lost their bright yellow, and the 61st lost their buff. However, unlike many regiments, both battalions were able to keep their old facings of yellow and buff respectively for their Regimental Colours, which the 1881 reform had decreed should be white with a red St George's Cross. (In fact, although 2nd Battalion did receive the new pattern Regimental Colour, they returned it, unloved, unused and unconsecrated, and kept their old and worn buff Regimental Colour instead). Even so, in 1929 the bright yellow and buff were abandoned for a compromise colour of primrose yellow, which was henceforth to be the regimental colour of both battalions. In fact, as the years went by, many regiments were able to claw back some off the ancient distinctions that were so important to them, and the mania for uniformity in the 1881 reform was never entirely successful.

The two regular battalions of the new Gloucestershire Regiment never got out of the habit of referring to themselves as the 28th and the LXI (the 61st preferred to use Roman numerals) until they were eventually combined in 1948 as 1st Battalion.

Perhaps the most difficult change of all for the Gloucestershire Regiment in 1881 was what to do about the Back Badge, worn by the 28th since Alexandria, (the earliest known illustration of it dating to 1803). The Back Badge had the number "28" incorporated into its design. With the amalgamation, the 28th did not want to lose the Back Badge, and the 61st did not want to wear it at all. But the 61st relented, the "28" was dropped from the design and, because both regiments had always been entitled to wear the "Sphinx and Egypt" devices since after 1801, a new Back Badge was designed.

The War Office made their decision in a letter from Horse Guards on 11th August 1881:-

"Sir,
"With reference to previous correspondence I have now the honor by desire of H.R.H. the Field Marshal Commanding-in-chief to acquaint you that the "First" and "Second" battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment will wear the Regimental Badge "the Sphinx" on the back of the Helmets instead of the number as hitherto worn in the First Battalion late 28th Regiment.

I have &c.
Blundell, Assistant Adjutant General"

Picture: Photomontage, 28th & LXI, by A.C. Lovett.

1881 - The British Boers

The invasion scares that had periodically flared up in Britain during the French Second Empire of Napoleon III had abated by 1881, but it was recognized that the regular army had to modernize in view of the rise of the influence and power of Germany. Also, the Volunteer units that had first been raised in 1859 were still in existence, as were the Volunteer Yeomanry cavalry which had been raised before them at the end of the previous century. The numbers of Volunteers fluctuated according to the perceived level of the threat of invasion, as well as the economic conditions of the Volunteers themselves.

In 1861 the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars were first issued with Westley-Richards breech-loading carbines, at six per troop, and in 1870 the whole Regiment was armed with them. The Westley-Richards was a very accurate weapon for its day, though prone to fouling, and an ideal addition to the equipment of the modern cavalryman. Shooting competitions became popular in the Regiment in the 1860s, creating a tradition that would continue for many years, with carbines being given away as prizes to the best shots. Snider carbines replaced the Westley-Richards in 1879.

The official establishment of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars during the previous forty years had been between 420 to 470 men. In 1875 it was set at 445, but these figures were hard to maintain and in 1881 only 246 men were present with the Regiment for their inspection parade and field day at Cheltenham on 11th May 1881.

Seven weeks previously the First Boer War had come to an end, and Great Britain had signed a humiliating peace. Her scarlet-coated soldiers had been bested by fast-riding and hard-hitting farmers, armed with breech-loading carbines and wearing their everyday clothes. At the battle of Majuba Hill on February 27th the military reputation of the British army had reached a nadir.

The lessons to be learned from the successes of the Boers were not forgotten by Lieutenant-Colonel Burnaby of the Royal Horse Guards, who was the inspecting officer at Cheltenham that May of 1881. He watched the Yeomen of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, most of them farmers and countrymen, their ranks thinned by enforced absences caused by the recession which had resulted from a series of poor harvests. He saw them perform their evolutions, resplendent in the uniform of their corps, deep blue and heavily trimmed with yellow or gold braid and lace, their slung outer jackets or pelisses edged with black fur. And at the end of the day, the Regiment gathered around Colonel Burnaby and listened to his address:

"'He was much pleased at the manner in which they had performed most of the movements, considering the short time available for practice. They had no doubt made some mistakes during the inspection, one of which was, when they were dismounted and the right wing acting on foot, it was placed in such a position that it actually covered the rear. That was an error. Had they been fighting an enemy, the shots in reply to those dismounted would have struck some of their own mounted men. In all cases, and at all times, it must be remembered that the mounted support or escort should never be placed exactly behind them but always to the flank, otherwise the enemy's fire would be drawn upon them. Again, the firing was too rapid. There was no attempt at taking aim, the sole object of the men seemed to be to fire off their cartridges as quick as they could. If they were on active service they would soon discover the necessity of husbanding their ammunition, and of firing as skilfully and deliberately as possible.'

"Colonel Burnaby went on to say that the Yeomanry of Gloucestershire represented in Gloucester what the Boers did in the Transvaal. They were men who could ride and shoot, and they (the Boers) had shown England what an extremely effective and valuable force a body of Yeomanry could be made, if only they knew how to ride, how to do outpost duty, and, at the same time, if they were good shots. He was glad to hear that many of them took great pleasure in target practice, but after all they must remember that firing at a fixed target at a certain distance was not the best practice for obtaining efficiency in actual warfare. They should endeavour when out walking to judge from themselves the distance from one tree to another, and then step it. By this mean they would accustom the eyes to correctly judge distances, even in the course of their ordinary occupation. If they did this, they would find it to be an enormous advantage if they were ever called upon to fire at an enemy at an uncertain distance. He would thank them for the efficiency they had shown, and also for proving to him that a regiment of Yeomanry, after a little training, although not up to regular troops, could do its work remarkably well."

W.H. Wyndham Quin, "The Yeomanry Cavalry of Gloucestershire and Monmouth". 1898.

In less than twenty years Colonel Burnaby's words would be put to the test, as officers and troopers of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars found themselves in action against their counterparts in South Africa.

Picture: Royal Gloucestershire Hussars on manouevres, c. 1897. Original in Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum Collection.

1886 - Pax Britannica - 2nd Battalion in India

In 1880 the 61st returned to India after an absence of more than twenty years. They were to remain in India for a tour of duty which lasted until 1893. The British Empire was at its height, and India was the jewel in the Empire's crown.

"When the cholera comes - as it will past a doubt -
Keep out of the wet and don't go on the shout,
For the sickness gets in as the liquor dies out,
An' it crumples the young British soldier."

Rudyard Kipling, "The Young British Soldier".

William Howell of Chipping Campden recalled his time in the ranks of the 61st in India, fifty years on:

"... we joined a draft for India in 1886 and joined the 2nd Battalion at Ahmednagar, where the cholera was very bad. We moved to Poona for Camp of Exercise in 1888 and then on to Deolali. That was my worst station, fever and ague with no injections in those days. In 1889 we proceeded to Bombay. Whilst there I was on two guards of honour. The first was for Prince Albert Victor, later Duke of Clarence, and the second for Lord Roberts. I also saw Captain Haig [later Field Marshal Earl Sir Douglas Haig], as he then was, play for the 4th Hussars at polo and won against the Bombay Gymkhana.

"In 1890 I left Bombay to proceed with my company to Deesa. It was hot and healthy there though the shade temperatures went up to 118 degs. [48 degrees Celsius] in summer. We had punkas and the tatties [wetted mats] at doorways. It was a treat to get by the latter to get a breath of fresh cool air.

"Then we marched back to Palumpur to wait another company from Ahmedabad and went on the B.B.C.I. [Bombay, Baroda, and Central India] Railway to Nusserabad in Rajputana. In 1892 we had two companies on detachment at Neemuch. We had it pretty rough there, losing a hundred men from cholera and enteric in the first year out of the Regiment of about 800 strong. Two of the lads came from Moreton and one from Campden, a namesake of mine.

"I am pleased to say that I escaped it. There was only one man I know who pulled through from cholera. He was an old soldier named Bill Darke, whose home was Blockley. He was congratulated for luck and pluck and Captain Tufnell gave him a beautiful watch, a personal gift of great sentimental value, on his recovery.

"One man wrote a letter to the Bristol Times, and they printed it. He stated that if we had been the Guards or some posh regiment we should have been shifted. He took the risk on his own and a court martial and 84 days behind bars at Poona prison for it."

Lieutenant (later Major General) Frank Burges noted the recommended preventative measures which were taken against cholera outbreaks:-

"Whilst we were quartered there, there was a bad outbreak of cholera at Nasirabad: we lost over 30 men, Colonel Curtis got it, but recovered. The system at that time was to march out of cantonments 8 or 10 miles, and then camp, and keep moving camp when there were more cases, until the outbreak ceased. In order to keep up the spirits of the men, the canteen was kept open late, and no attempt was paid to those who got merry. There was a man called Pte. Smith in "D" Company, with four Good Conduct badges, who could not find his tent on leaving the canteen; he fell over many ropes until he found a tent which gave out no curses when he tripped up, so he crawled in and laid down on the ground and went to sleep; when he woke up in the morning he found he was in the mortuary tent with five corpses, but he was none the worse for his adventures that night."

But life could be good for the British soldier in the India of the time, especially for officers. There was plenty of free time for sport, hunting, exploration and other forms of relaxation, and servants were cheap and plentiful. Lieutenant Burges was a keen game hunter :

"In 1891 we were transferred to Rajputana, with six companies at Nasirabad and two at Nimuch. This was a much better station, there was good duck, snipe, quail and sand grouse shooting, with black buck and Chinkara, and some pig sticking."

When the 61st moved to Aden in 1893, Burges went on a hunting trip to the Horn of Africa, shooting "1 elephant, 2 rhinoceros, 4 leopards, big kudu, lesser kudu, Waller's antelope, Summering's antelope, Swayne's hartebeest, oryx beisa, wart hog, Speke's gazelle, lowland gazelle, three kinds of dik dik, hyena and 10 lions."


Picture: Officers enjoying tiffin under a banyan tree.

1894 - Pax Britannica - 1st Battalion in Malta

On 11th November 1893 1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment landed in Malta, not for the first nor last time. The battalion was carried once again by the HIMALAYA, a venerable troop transport that had seen service during the Crimean War, and which would be decommissioned the following year, but remaining afloat until she was bombed and sunk in 1940.

Major, later Lieut.-Colonel, A.H. Radice recalled his days as a young subaltern on Malta, noting, among other things, that perennial complaint of soldiers, the inadequacy of certain items of uniform and kit, and the parsimoniousness of government:-

"The officers had their uniforms made by Zarb, a Maltese who had a small shop in Strada Reale in Valetta. He was the worst tailor in the world, but useful to borrow money from. ...

"For the summer the men were issued with white helmets of a rather ugly shape, and khaki drill covers to put over them when in khaki. This made it very difficult to turn out on church parade with properly pipeclayed helmets; and also on some quibble the authorities refused to make an issue of back badges for the helmet and therefore we had to buy them out of funds. I think it was only when we got to India that we were issued with khaki helmets with white covers, a much more practical arrangement."

Sporting triumphs came frequently to the Gloucesters in Malta, whenever they were based there. In 1873 the 28th had won a magnificent trophy for rowing at the annual Regatta, and more than twenty years later in 1894, they won again, led by their stroke Lt.-Colonel Conner.

"The race was not without excitement, our boat got to a good lead and they began to take it easy, not noticing another boat was creeping up on the Valetta side. A crowd from the Regiment had gone to Fort Manoel to see the finish; they noticed the boat creeping up on the far side and raised a great shout which woke up our crew to their danger before it was too late; they won by half a length."

Conner, who had also been stroke in the crew of 1873, was cox for the 1895 event, when the Gloucesters won again.

Sergeant F.E. Bishop recalled a rather different adventure of a nautical flavour, enjoyed by the sergeants of the 28th in Malta in 1895:-

"... A Russian Battleship put into the dry dock for slight repairs, etc. Our "Ambassador of Peace," Drum Major S.M. Carroll, had a brainwave and unaware to his superiors, he donned his best uniform, went to the Dockyard, and invited the equivalent ranks to a Smoking Concert in our Sergeants Mess, nothing then had been arranged, however, they came up and a very enjoyable evening was spent, each one of us took a Russian as a Pal for the evening. The following day we received an invitation to a "Cup of Tea" to be held in H.M. Dockyard, and the majority of us who were free from duty availed ourselves of the opportunity of attending, some of the seniors did not attend as the cup of tea was not strong enough a magnet. When we arrived the "Cup of Tea" was very conspicuous by its absence, but there was almost every kind of liquid refreshment in existence present, and needless to say, we spent a right royal evening with our Russian friends.

"There are several incidents which happened that I can still visualise, but the funniest of all was Drummy Carroll and a burly whiskery Russian, taking leave of each other and hugging and kissing at the Dockyard gates. ..."



Picture: Colonel Conner with the Governor's Cup for rowing, Malta 1894.

1899 - The Siege of Ladysmith

1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment sailed from Calcutta on 25th September 1899 and arrived in Durban on 13th October. By the time they arrived in South Africa, British negotiations with the Boer states of Transvaal and the Orange Free State had irretrievably broken down and the Second Boer War was two days old. The British forces in South Africa or, more particularly in Natal, were heavily outnumbered, and the rapid strategic movement of troops from India to Durban, thence north by rail through the Province to Ladysmith saved Natal from being overrun by the Boers.

But, if the initial British strategic response proved to be surprisingly swift and effective, the tactical expertise of the British generals and troops in the field was equally swiftly proven by the Boers to be severely limited. As General Sir George White concentrated his small but growing force around Ladysmith, the Boers forces invading Natal grew in strength and attempted to surround the British, prevent reinforcements from getting through and lay siege to the town. On 24th October at Rietfontein the Gloucesters received their baptism of fire when, as part of a small holding force, they successfully prevented the Boers from interfering with the movement of a fresh British column coming in from the north west to join Sir George White's army. The nature of this as yet unfamiliar style of warfare was described by Lieutenant A.H. Radice:

"For several hours the Battalion remained lying on the open veldt in long lines, fully exposed to the Boer fire. The hail of bullets gradually became less but never ceased altogether, every movement on our part drew a burst of heavy fire. Nothing could be seen of the enemy; no movement could be detected in the empty landscape; and yet the double crack of the Mausers and the swish of the bullets went on unceasingly. Hours passed without any change - the casualties mounting up. Colonel Wilford was shot through the head and killed instantly while walking calmly along the firing line. Lieut. Hickie, the size of whose boots had always been a joke among the subalterns, was hit in both boots and wounded in the foot. In India the care of ammunition had been so hammered into the men that it had become second nature to preserve and account for every round. One man at the height of the fight asked me if he should pick up his empty cases, and another asked me what he should do with two packets of ammunition he had just picked up."

Sir George White prepared Ladysmith for a siege, and the Gloucesters were digging in and sandbagging with the rest. The Boers were closing in on the town, and bringing up heavy artillery and on 29th October the British attacked them at several points, With Sir George White committing the majority of his force of 12,000. Three and a half companies of the Gloucesters were left behind on outpost duty, together with some sick from the other four and a half companies of the battalion. The attack was poorly executed and failed miserably. The 450 men of the Gloucesters attacking force together with a battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers were surrounded and forced to surrender at Nicholson's Nek. The lack of understanding of what had happened at Nicholson's Nek was reflected in White's own report:

"It was then found that the position was too large for them to adequately occupy, and that only the most pronounced salients could be held. The Boers appear to have gradually surrounded the hill, and after a fight extending over several hours, our men's ammunition began to fail owing to the ammunition mules having stampeded, as already described. The advanced parties holding the salients were driven back on the main body in the centre of the plateau, and the Boers gained the crest line of the hill, whence they brought a converging fire to bear from all sides on our men crowded together in the centre, causing much loss. Eventually it was seen that this position was hopelessly untenable, and our force hoisted a white flag, and surrendered about 12.30 p.m."

Ladysmith settled down to prepare for a siege, which was to last almost four months, with the remaining Gloucesters of 1st Battalion forming part of the defending force. The progress of the siege was dominated by the Boer's modern artillery, especially the Creusot 155mm gun christened "Long Tom" by the British. There was only one attempt to assault the British position, an attack by the Boers on 6th January which ended in failure. Sergeant Cowland of the Gloucesters described the last day of the siege in his diary entry for 28th February 1900:

"... Sir George White visited all the outposts today and exhorted us to keep the flag flying at all costs. He looks terribly thin and ill. The anxiety is surely telling on him. No news this morning and not a gun to be heard. What can it mean? All the guns in Ladysmith have suddenly tackled Long Tom. ...

"The Boers are using a large derrick to take Long Tom down and our guns are pouring in a hurricane of shot & shell. The naval guns have knocked the derrick down, but the Boers are continuing their work. They are certainly a brave lot. There was great excitement about 7.30pm when a body of horsemen were seen approaching the town from the direction of Intombi Spruit. In answer to the challenge "Who goes there?" the welcome answer came back "Ladysmith Relief Force". Then ensued a scene of indescribable excitement and enthusiasm. We were all running about like mad, kissing and crying by turns, such was the depth of our feelings. The party proved to be two squadrons of Natal Volunteers under the command of Lord Dundonald. They had reason to be proud of themselves that night, and can tell with pride in years to come of how they had the honour to be the first of the relief force to enter Ladysmith. Sir George White met them at the entrance to the town and thanked them cordially for coming. He afterwards made a short speech to the townspeople and garrison in which he expressed great sorrow at having to reduce our rations to such a starvation point, but now that it was all over he thanked God that we had been able to keep the flag flying. "God save the Queen" was then sung by all present in a very impressive manner."

Picture: View from Ladysmith to Boer positions.